The new Pakatan Harapan government’s promised abolishment of the 6% goods and services tax (GST) may not bring a reduction of car prices that some people are hoping for. During the launch of the new Nissan Serena S-Hybrid, Edaran Tan Chong Motor’s sales and marketing director Christopher Tan told the media that prices of Nissan vehicles might actually go up slightly if the previous 10% sales tax is reinstated.

“Almost every brand, when we migrated from sales tax to GST, their prices actually came down a little bit,” he said. “So if the situation is such that if the sales tax implemented will be exactly the same as before, there could actually be a price increase. What I can say for now is that perhaps now is the best time to buy, because if that happens you could be paying a slightly higher price in the future.”

Tan added that ETCM will have a price protection scheme, similar to what Motor Image has announced for Subaru vehicles. Under such a programme, customers who purchased their cars starting this month will get the difference refunded to them should prices go down with the move from GST to the new sales and service tax (SST), although exactly what form the refund will take has yet to be decided.

The application of the old sales tax (left) on a car, versus the current goods and services tax (GST, right)

“However, of course, if at a later time the prices of cars are higher, then people who recently bought [their cars] got a good deal,” he said, adding that he is confident that the new government has the consumer’s best interest at heart, and that there will be a “positive price situation.”

The Price Protection Scheme introduced for Subaru vehicles promises to maintain prices at current levels for vehicles purchased from now until August 18. Should prices be reduced when SST is implemented, Motor Image will refund the difference in the form of a service voucher of an equivalent amount, or adjust the price for vehicles that have been booked but have yet to be registered.

After trying to pursue a career in product design, Jonathan Lee decided to make the sideways jump into the world of car journalism instead. He therefore appreciates the aesthetic appeal of a car, but for him, the driving experience is still second to none.

The rakyat should not commit to frenzy and uncontrolled buying of cars anymore.
After 100 days,then see what is the pricing then.
By then,the car distributors especially premium price Queen UMW, will be giving hell of a rebate when stocks overflow at their yards.Does this make sense,or u still need a degree in rocket science?
Let our beloved Tun fix the bigger issues like nabbing the pencuri…we the rakyat control our own debt level.

The government can actually adjust the excise duties on cars to bring the cost down. I think the minimum is now set at 60% for below 1500 cc. Then the prices of vehicles can be reduced 30%. But I don’t expect it to be done immediately as the duties will be used to clear off our national debt

Actually, I am not surprised if the current government will reduce or even abolish the excise duties for cars. Because now Proton is no longer government-owned, they sure do not need to ‘tongkat’ them any longer.

I love your optimism bro. But let’s be realistic here, do you honestly believe that the current government will do away excise duty? Those are money for the government dude. Doing away GST already cost the our government billions. Not to mention free education, free tolls. According to Paultan, buying back LDP highway alone cost more than RM2b.

The rakyat has only themselves to blame if they keep buying new cars to show off,when they need not.
Alto regime change has finally arrived,remember….if u can still use your current car or get a good preowned unit,why not?
Cars dont appreciate with time.They depreciate every day.

At the point in time, i rather the prices of cars go up slightly than have a government that mismanages our money including all those who enrich them themselves (ministers and public servants) that think this country belongs to them.

zero rate still got GST maaaa, but ZERO rate.. they can add any number in the future if they want to. PH promise to ABOLISH GST and replace it with SST.. So, when you promise to abolish, abolish la. Why spin spin..

implementing gst last time was already troublesome. Many POS, ticketing, billing, accounting system needs to be change to facilitate this newly imposed tax. If you want to remove it totally, it will go thru the whole process once again & it will incur more cost. It’s not cheap to change the system. So, to avoid this wastage of money, time & effort, just zero rate everything for GST. zero rate = not paying gst. It still gives you the same output. don’t be so childish

A lot of car brands in Malaysia – Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Benz, BMW) have all announced lower price due to zero GST. ETCM is clearly trying to pull a fast one or their are too disillusioned like a certain political party.

Stupid ETCM. All cars prices down without gst, only Nissan hike. Thinking untung only. Some more all nissan model bring in for uncle. No style!
Latio is gone. No competitor for city n vios.
No competitor for hrv n chr.
No competitor for wish n stream.

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